Saturday, February 06, 2010
7:30 p.m. at Jeanne B. McCoy Community Center for the Arts, New Albany
The Fisk Jubilee Singers are young men and women, vocal artists and students of Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee who sing and travel worldwide.
The original Jubilee Singers introduced songs of slavery to the world in 1871 and were instrumental in preserving a unique American musical tradition known as Negro spirituals. They broke racial barriers in the United States and abroad in the late 19th century, and entertained Presidents, Kings and Queens. At the same time they used their concerts as a means of raising money in support of their beloved school.
In 1999, the Fisk Singers were featured in The American Experience, a PBS award-winning television documentary series. Produced by WGBH, Boston, the program was called Singers: Sacrifice and Glory. The Fisk Jubilee Singers continue the tradition of singing the Negro spiritual around the world. This allows the ensemble to share this rich culture globally while preserving this unique music.
In July 2007 the Fisk Jubilee Singers travelled for the first time to Ghana at the invitation of the U.S. Embassy. This history-making visit allowed the Fisk Singers to join Ghanaians in celebrating the nation’s 50th independence anniversary. In 2008, the Fisk Jubilee Singers were selected as a recipient of the 2008 National Medal of Arts, the nation's highest honor for artists and patrons of the arts. The award was presented by President George W. Bush and first lady Laura Bush during a ceremony at the White House.
